Mesivta Ateres Yaakov students donate rescue boat to Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department

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Seeing a need borne out of Hurricane Sandy, when Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department firefighters had to rescue residents from the second and third floor of their homes due to flooding, students at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov, a yeshiva high school for boys in Lawrence, raised $1,500 in less than a week a few months ago and purchased a rescue boat they presented to the LCFD.
It took the boys three days to raise the money,” said Rabbi Yirmiyah Lasker, the school’s executive director said. “They asked for donations from family and friends and collected the money.”
School, fire department and Cedarhurst village officials and students gathered in the school’s lobby for the presentation ceremony on Monday.
Head of School Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe applauded the student body’s effort and credited seniors Yonatan Arshavnia, Naftali Engel and Yosef Neman for coordinating the fundraising effort.
“At 8:19 during morning prayer [on Monday] we heard the horn sound three times and knew our brave volunteers were once again answering the call,” Rabbi Yaffe said in honoring the service the fire department provides to the communities it serves. “This boat is one of the needs of this brave department of volunteer firefighters.”
The boat will add to the fire department’s aquatic fleet that includes an inflatable boat. “This one is designed for street flooding,” said LCFD Chief John McHugh. A sturdier constructed metal vessel is needed due to the debris that could be in the streets after a hurricane or other heavy storms, he said.